Three-dimensional ceiling board facing

ABSTRACT

A three-dimensional printed ceiling board facing material is disclosed in which a greige, foam-coated fabric is selectively printed with an expandable print paste or foamable plastisol. Upon heating, the expandable or foamable coating is substantially increased in size and bonded to the coated substrate. Novel and attractive architectural effects and hand are achieved while the facing meets commercial requirements of light fastness, heat stability and flame resistance. The printed fabric is useful as a ceiling board facing when a highly visible three-dimensional appearance is required.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a decorative acoustical ceiling or wallsurfacing fabric and more particularly to a foam-coated fabric providedwith a three-dimensional decorative architectural pattern and a processfor making this three-dimensional fabric. The fabric is used as aceiling board facing or a wall facing.

There are several commercially available ceiling boards which utilizeglass fabric as the decorative facing. Generally, however, the fabriccovered board is spray painted in a separate operation to achieve thedesired textured, three-dimensional, and nubby appearance. Ceiling boardmanufacturers have frequently expressed their need for a pre-finishedfabric which would exhibit and retain a three-dimensional, nubbyappearance, and which requires only lamination to a base substrate toproduce a salable ceiling board.

Previous work has concentrated on utilizing various weave designsemploying textured fill yarns as a means of obtaining a nubbyappearance. Suitable fabrics were then padded with highly loadedsolutions of resin and pigment for color and opacity. The fabrics whichresulted, however, did not exhibit the required texture and nubbyappearance sought by the industry.

A foam coated ceiling board facing is described in U.S. Pat. No.4,162,342 issued on July 24, 1979 in which a cellular foam coated fabricis made by sculpturing a layer of vinyl or acrylic foam on one or bothsides of a nubby textured fabric. The foam is applied and distributedover the entire surface of the fabric. While the products described inmy earlier patent exhibit an enhanced degree of loft, texture andnubbiness to the fabric, in many applications a further feeling of depthand dimension is desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a truly three-dimensional fabric usefulas a ceiling board facing or a wall board facing, and a process formaking this three-dimensional fabric.

It is an object of the present invention to produce an improvedflame-retardant fabric for ceiling board facing by printing a suitablebase fabric with an expandable or foamable print paste resulting in atextured, three-dimensional appearance.

It is another object of the present invention to develop improved fabricfor ceiling board facing which exhibits flame resistance, colorstability (light fastness) and heat stability.

It is a further object of the present invention to develop improvedfabric for ceiling board facing which exhibits distinct and variedsurface three-dimensional features that are architecturally pleasing andcommercially accepable.

These and other objects are achieved by selectively applying to asuitable base fabric, either woven or non-woven, an expandable orfoamable print paste in areas where the raised three-dimensional patternis desired and causing the print paste to expand or foam to therequisite height under controlled drying and/or curing conditions. Thethree-dimensional fabric of the present invention has a highly visualthree-dimensional look and has a coarse, rough and pebbly architecturalhand. Various effects are readily obtained, both visually and spacially,by employing different print patterns, controlling the degree of foamingand hence the height of the print from the substrate surface. Dyes orpigments may be added to the print paste before expansion or the basicfabric may be colored or dyed before expansion of the print paste.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional illustration of the grey, uncoatedfabric;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional illustration of the fabric of FIG.1 coated with a fairly uniform foam layer about 45 mils in averagethickness;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional illustration of the printed andfoam-coated fabric of FIG. 2 having the expanded print paste on top ofthe foamed layer extending at various heights ranging from up to 70 to160 mils in randomly distributed areas; and

FIG. 4 is a photograph of the present invention showing a whitethree-dimensional print on a grey foamcoated fabric.

FIG. 5 is a photograph comparing the printed foam-coated fabric to theunprinted fabric.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the foamed, printedfabric.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged photograph of both the printed an unprinted foamedfabric taken at about a 45° angle from the horizontal with a spotlightshining on the fabrics at approximately the same angle. This highlightsthe three-dimensional print which casts shadows on the surface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The substrate to which the foamable or expandable print paste is appliedis conveniently any fabric that is suitable for incorporation into aceiling or wall surfacing panel. It is typically a flame-retardantfabric and may be either woven, knitted or non-woven. Preferably thefabric is a glass fabric because of its inherent non-flammableproperties. An eminently suitable substrate is the foam coated ceilingboard facing described in my earlier patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,342, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference to the extentthat it is necessary to describe such substrates.

The fabric used in the process of the present invention is preferablycharacterized by a certain degree of nubbiness and texture. The desireddegree of nubbiness and texture may be obtained by using textured fillyarns. Texture is a term which describes the surface effect of a fabric,or the structural quality of a fabric. As defined in Man-Made Fiber andTextile Dictionary (Celanese Corporation 1974), texturing is a processof crimping, imparting random loops, or otherwise modifying continuousfilament yarn to increase cover, resilience, abrasion resistance,warmth, insulation, and moisture absorption or to provide a differentsurface texture. As an example, one suitable textured fill yarn isidentified as TEX 129 yarn, which is textured glass yarn manufactured bythe Burlington Industrial Fabrics Division of Burlington Industries,Incorporated. TEX 129 yarn is manufactured by the air jet method, asdescribed in the Man-Made Fiber and Textile Dictionary. In this methodof texturing, yarn is fed through the turbulent region of an air jet ata rate faster than it is drawn off at the far side of the jet. In thejet, the yarn structure is opened, loops are formed, and the structureis closed again. Some loops are locked inside and others are locked onthe surface of the yarn. The product of this process, such as TEX 129,is an entangled yarn suitable for use in the process of the presentinvention. Other textured yarns may also be used. In general, the biggerand bulkier the textured fill yarn, the greater the three-dimensionalcharacter of the final fabric. However, a balance between the bulky fillyarns and the smooth filament warp yarns is desirable. The desiredbalance gives the illusion of depth and leads to high and low areas inthe fabric. TEX 129 yarn is considered to be a large bulky yarn suitablefor use in the process of the present invention. Other textured fillyarns, including textured fill yarns which are smaller, may be used.

The fabrics used in the present invention are typically glass fiberfabrics. The glass fiber fabrics used are woven, knitted, or non-wovenfabrics, most commonly woven and are composed of yarn made of glassfibers or filaments, or in the case of non-wovens, discrete glassfibers. However, any fabric which has the desired texture or nubbyappearance may be used, provided that when the fabric is processed andprinted according to the present invention, that the final productsatisfy the relevant flammability specifications. The relevantflammability specifications are set forth in the test methods known asASTM-E 84 or UL 723, which are hereby incorporated by reference. Thesemethods test the fire hazard classification of building materials. Forcommercial products a class A rating as defined in these tests isgenerally desired.

Glass fiber fabrics are preferred in the process of the presentinvention since they are inherently nonflammable. A particularlypreferred glass fiber fabric is identified as S/1963 and is sold by theBurlington Glass Fabrics Company, a division of Burlington Industries,Inc. of Greensboror, N.C. S/1963 fabric is made from a wrap yarn with 18ends per inch of ECG 150 1/10 filament yarn, and a TEX 129 fill yarnwith 16 picks per inch in the fill. An ECG 150 1/10 filament yarn is afiberglass textile yarn, specifically an electrical glass, continuousfilament yarn with an average filament diameter equivalent to 0.00036inches and 15,000 yards of bare glass filament per pound. The "1/0"indicates that the yarn is made up of a single unplied strand.

The substrate to which the expandable printing paste is applied ispreferably provided with a coating to receive and retain the expandableprint paste. I prefer a foam coated surface as described in my earlierpatent U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,342 in which a vinyl or acrylic based foam isapplied over the entire surface of one or both sides of a suitablefabric substrate, although similar coatings may be used as well.

Typical expandable print pastes are based upon formulations containingmicrospheres which, upon heating to a predetermined temperature, expandand provide the desired depth and three-dimensional visual effect to thefacing. These microspheres are hollow monocellular particles having athermoplastic expandable synthetic resinous spherical particle with aspherical shape and containing encapsulated within as a generallyspherical occlusion a liquid phase. This liquid phase is mostly avolatile organic liquid that becomes gaseous at a temperature which isbelow the glass transition temperature of the particle itself. Thus whenheated to the desired temperature the shell becomes "plastic" and yieldsto the internal pressure of the liquid as it becomes a gas and theparticle expands to form a monocellular hollow, generally sphericalshell with a gaseous center. Such microspheres are formulated intomedium containing a cross-linkable resin or binder, various auxiliaryadditives such as a defoamer, catalyst (to cure the resin), a wettingagent, a thickener and the like. When applied to a fabric substrateusing a conventional printing technique and heated to a temperature atwhich the microspheres expand, the applied coating has a raised andtextured surface. The relative thickness of the expanded spheresdepends, of course, on the concentration of the microspheres in theprint paste. The surface so produced will be textured or roughened bythe irregularities caused by the expansion of the microspheres; thedegree of texture is also largely dependent on the concentration of themicrospheres in the print paste.

Microspheres of the type contemplated are described in U.S. Pat. No.3,615,972 to Dow Chemical Company and have been formulated into aprinting composition for achieving raised and graphic designs on fabricsas disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,273 and 4,044,176 to Pratt &Lambert, Inc. Thus as one class of suitable materials, aqueousexpandable print pastes are used which are available from theSpectrachem Corporation as Spectrapuff print pastes and from the Pierce& Stevens Company as Foamcoat print pastes. The Foamcoat materials arebelived to contain an acrylic polymer, a blowing agent and possiblypolystyrene. These aqueous expandable print pastes contain variousbinders or latex resins which increase in volume and become less denseas the microspheres also contained in the print paste expand. A typicalformulation is:

acrylic emulsion (resin): 63.95 parts,

defoamer: 0.25 parts,

wetting agent: 0.10 parts,

glycol ether: 2.74 parts,

microspheres: 31.47 parts,

catalyst: 0.10 parts,

thickening agent: 1.39 parts

(all by weight) according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,273, column 7, lines53-60.

Another class of materials suitable for use as expandable printingpastes according to my invention are the foamable plastisols whichcontain blowing agents that release gases upon heating, as in the dryingand curing operations.

Through proper selection of the blowing agent system, various foamdensities and cell structures can be obtained. A typical blowing agentwould be an azodicarbonamide which normally decomposes at 400°-410° F.and releases nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide gases. Thesegases are responsible for expanding the plastisol and forming a cellularstructure. In cases where the normal decomposition temperature of theblowing agent is too high for processing of the plastisol, chemicalactivators or promoters are typically added to reduce the temperatureneeded for decomposition. A typical formulation for producing a hardclosed cell expanded plastisol is as follows:

polyvinyl chloride resin: 100 parts

butyl benzyl plasticizer: 10

epoxy plasticizer: 5

blowing paste (azodicarbonamide): 5-6

dibasic lead phosphate stabilizer: 6

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that modifications in the aboveformulation are easily made and in some cases desirable for a plastisolwhich may be utilized for ceiling board application. Flame retardant lowsmoke generating plasticizers should be incorporated into the formula aswell as antimony oxide for extra flame retardancy. Titanium dioxide canalso be added for whiteness, opacity, and heat stability.

Another class of materials useful in achieving a raised or foamed printis a hydrophilic polyurethane prepolymer developed by W. R. Grace & Co.and available commercially as the Hypol foamable hydrophilic polymers.These polymers have the unique ability to form plastic foam with onlythe addition of water. For use in the present invention the prepolymercan be printed onto the fabric substrate then passed through a steamchamber to expand the foam and develop the necessary thickness.

Modifications to the basic formulation system are readily achieved bycontrolling the amount of water, type of surfactant, and the additivessuch as flame retardants or pigments, normally utilized for obtainingspecific properties in the foamed product.

Conventional textile printing equipment can be utilized with minormodifications for printing the foamable polyurethane prepolymer on afabric.

The three-dimensional printed ceiling or wall board facing must satisfycommercial requirements for flammability, acoustical and other buildingcode-type specifications as well as consumer acceptance and durabilitystandards, such as light fastness and heat stability.

Commercially available expandable print pastes of the type describedabove may not produce a commercially acceptable product with respect tolight fastness and/or heat stability or may have unacceptable flamespread or rate of burning. Accordingly it is preferred to include in theprint paste recipe used according to my invention various additives andagents that give the printed ceiling board facing fabric the desiredservice properties in addition to the obtained visual properties.

A preferred expandable print paste composition, according to the presentinvention, includes (1) an aqueous-based expandable print pastecontaining heat expandable microspheres therein, and to which has beenadded (2) a white powdered pigment such as titanium dioxide to giveopacity and whiteness as well as to improve the heat stability of theexpanded print; and (3) a flame retardant such as antimony oxide andaluminum hydrate to impart the necessary flame resistance. Also zincoxide is included to reduce the time of afterglow in a flame test.

Clay-type fillers and talc powders may also be used, the only criterionbeing that the final product be opaque and sufficiently reflective foruse as a ceiling board facing. The amount of white powdered pigment usedtypically ranges from about 10 percent by weight to about 50 percent byweight. These fillers impart a dry, raspy hand to the expanded print andgreatly reduce the rubbery or spongy hand of the expanded print. Flameretardants, in addition to antimony oxide and aluminum hydrate,typically include non-flammable plasticizers such as tricresyl phosphateor flame retardant agents such as borax, boric acid, diammoniumphosphate, a bromine liberating compound such as decabromobiphenyloxideor a combination of these. The amount of flame retardant material orsystem used is about 2 to about 20 percent by weight of the foamcomposition, the amount being sufficient to input the desired degree offlame retardancy to the product.

The print paste composition is formed by mixing the various materialsdescribed above. Typically, the various ingredients are mixed asfollows: the dry pigments and powders such as antimony oxide, aluminumhydrate and titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are premixed with water togive a slurry or paste using e.g., a Cowles or Eppenbach mixer. Then thecompound containing the expandable material is added to this slurry andmixed thoroughly. If increased viscosity is desired, suitable thickeningagents such as sodium polyacrylate compounds in combination withammonium hydroxide may be used.

The print paste composition is applied to the fabric substrate accordingto standard printing procedures and equipment used in the textileindustry for producing raised prints. In order to achieve the desiredvisual effect the ceiling board facings require a substantial amount ofprint paste distributed on and adhered to the fabric substrate and forthis purpose print rolls having deeper than normal engraving depths arepreferred. It has been found that engraving depths of 10-50 thousandthsof an inch give the desired expansion. Conventional textile rolls aretypically engraved at depths of only 2-10 thousandths of an inch. Two ormore different printing heights are also preferably used, for instanceas achieved with a printing roll having corresponding engraving depths,as the resulting print pattern exhibits high and low areas which areconsidered to be more visually appealing than a similar pattern of onlyone height or level of expansion. Each engraving depth gives acorresponding thickness of print paste on the fabric substrate and, inturn, variations in the height of the decorative pattern extending abovethe surface of the fabric substrate. Generally the deeper the etchingthe more print paste is deposited and the greater the expansion, thegreater is the three-dimensional effect. Similar results are obtained byusing a plurality of rolls or one may use rotary screens, flat bedscreens or other printing techniques available to the art. Preferred isthe use of one or more rotary screens.

The fabric sustrate used in the present invention is generally a greigefabric in an unbleached, undyed state that is preferably provided with atextured finish according to the process of my earlier U.S. Pat. No.4,162,342, or with another finish. The fabric and/or the finishingthereon may be of any shade desired, for instance a grey substrate withwhite three-dimensional particles thereon. The darker the shade of thefabric substrate the less reflectance provided by the ceiling board. Ifso desired the print paste applied to the fabric substrate may be ofmultiple colors, for example by using multiple engraved rolls to applythe corresponding number of colored print particles.

After the print paste composition is applied to the fabric substrate thecoated material is first dried for a period of time to drive-off thevolatile components of the print paste then heated to a highertemperature to expand the foamable expandable component of the printpaste and to cure the print paste and fix it to the substrate. It isalso convenient to dry, expand and cure in one operation, driving-offthe volatiles and expanding the print paste under controlled conditions.The drying and curing procedure is an important part of the presentinvention necessary to provide for the expansion of the print paste andthe three-dimensional result. Drying and curing times as well astemperatures are selected depending upon the requirements of theexpandable component system of the print paste coupled with the amountof print paste applied to the fabric, the degree of expansion of thefoam extending from the fabric substrate that may be desired.

The three-dimensional printed ceiling board facing fabric which is theproduct of the process of the present invention may be laminated to, forexample a fiberous glass board, mineral wool board or the like to asubstrate to produce a wall or ceiling board. The details of thelamination process will depend of course upon the type of adhesive used.In a preferred embodiment, a wet adhesive such as vinyl acetate basedadhesives or acrylic based adhesives is applied to the sculptured fabricback and to a substrate material, such as a glass wool board. Thesculptured fabric is pressed on the board using a roll to insure goodcontact. The coated substrate material may be heated to dry theadhesive. Ceiling boards manufactured by this technique exhibit a truethree-dimensional appearance with the foamed pattern thereon greatlyenhancing the loft, texture, and nubby appearance of the base fabric.

EXAMPLE 1

A three-dimensional ceiling board facing was prepared as follows. Thefabric used was S/1963/48; 48 stands for the fabric width. The printpaste composition contained the following components:

2 gal.: Foamcoat 50 F (Pierce & Stephens)

750 g.: decarbromobiphenyloxide (50% dispersion)

125 g.: antimony oxide

150 g.: zinc oxide

1,000 g.: titanium dioxide

150 g.: aluminum hydrate

300 g.: Aerotex Resin M-3 (American Cyanamid, melamine resin)

750 g.: water

The resulting print paste had a viscosity suitable for printing and wasapplied to the fabric using an engraved roll with two etching depths of30 and 45 mils arranged in an architectural pattern.

The printed fabric was passed into a forced air drying oven set at 375°F. at a rate of 10 yards per minute with a residence time of about 1.5minutes which treatment dried, expanded and cured the applied printpaste. The resulting fabric was a three-dimensional printed ceilingboard facing.

EXAMPLE 2

For a pigmented or tinted background the fabric of Example 1 was firstprovided with a uniform cellular foamed coating by applying a followingfoam composition containing Rhoplex HA-16 (90 parts), Geon 351 (210parts), pigments and potassium stearate soap, foamed to the requireddensity and applied to the fabric and dried to produce a uniformlycoated layer on the fabric in accordance with the example of my U.S.Pat. No. 4,162,342. Next a three-dimensional expanded foam layer wasapplied as in Example 1, above. The resulting product had a greypigmented color for the uniformly foamed cellular background layer andwhite expanded foam particles extending from the grey surface providinga visually pleasing architectural appearance.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process of manufacturing a cellular foam coatedthree-dimensional fabric useful as a ceiling board facing and the likecomprising the steps of:applying a foamable, expandable print paste onat least one surface of a fabric in an irregular architectural patternsaid print paste including an pigment and a flame retardant wherein saidprint paste is applied in a discontinuous architectural pattern, andexpanding and curing the thus applied print paste to form raised areason said fabric at the deposition points of said print paste to provideon said fabric a three-dimensional printed ceiling board facingmaterial.
 2. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein said fabric is atexture glass fabric.
 3. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein saidprint paste includes titanium dioxide as the pigment and antimony oxideas the flame retardant.
 4. The process as claimed in claim 1 whereinsaid print paste also includes fillers that impart a dry, raspy hand tothe expanded print paste.
 5. The process as in claim 1 wherein saidflame retardant includes a mixture of antimony oxide anddecarbromobiphenyl oxide.
 6. A process of manufacturing a cellularfoam-coated fabric having a three-dimensional pattern printed thereonuseful as a ceiling board facing and the like, said process comprisingthe successive steps of:(1) forming on at least one face of a fabric auniform layer of cellular foamed latex containing vinyl chloridepolymer, a cell producing surfactant, a powdered pigment and a flameretardant; (2) passing said fabric coated with a uniform layer ofcellular foamed latex thereon between gapped means for removing foam andsculpturing said uniform layer of cellular foamed latex, (3) drying andcuring said cellular foam coated fabric; (4) printing a foamable,expandable print paste onto the thus formed cellular foam coated surfaceof the fabric in a discontinuous predetermined architectural pattern,said print paste containing a pigment and a flame retardant; andthereafter (5) expanding and curing the thus applied print paste to formraised areas on said fabric at the print paste deposition areas toprovide a fabric having cellular, foam-coated, sculptured surface with athree-dimensional pattern thereon.
 7. The process as claimed in claim 6wherein the pigment applied in step (1) is different from the pigmentapplied in step (4).
 8. The process as claimed in claim 6 wherein thefoam layer applied in step (1) and step (4) both contain fillers thatimpart a dry, raspy hand to the expanded print paste.
 9. A decorativeceiling board facing fabric including on one surface thereof a uniformcellular layer of foamed and cured material having had printed thereon afoamable, expandable printing paste in a discontinuous predeterminedarchitectural pattern, the foamable printing paste having been expandedand cured.
 10. A decorative acoustical wall or ceiling surfacing fabriccomprising a fibrous glass fabric having had foamable printing pasteprinted on one side thereof in a discontinuous predeterminedarchitectural pattern, the foamable printing paste having been expandedand cured.